Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1887-11-24


her little child. who did not see her
approach, and her child was saying to her
playmate: "You good-for-no hing little
scamp, you come right into the house this
minute. or will beat you till the skin comes
on The mother broke in, saying: ''Why,
Lizzie, am surprized to hear you talk like
that to any oneln ''Oh,n said the child, az
was only playing and be Is my little
boy, and am scolding him, as you
did me this morning. Children are apt to
be echoes of their parents.
Safer In Bethlehem manger among cattle
and camels, with gentle Mary TO watch the
the little innocent, than the most extravagant
nursery over which Gods star Of peace never
stood. The trapper extinguishes the flames
on the prairie by fighting fire with fire, but
you cannot, with the fire of your own dispo-
sition, put out the fire Of child's disposition.
Yet we may rush to the other extreme,
and use toward our children too great leni-
ency, The surgeon Is not unkind because,
notwithstanding the resistance Of his patient,
he goes straight ON, with firm hand and un-
faltering heart, totake OF the gangrene Nor
is the parent less affectionate and faithful
because, Notwithstanding all violent
rsmonstrances on the part of the
child, he with the firmest discipline
advances to the cutting of of its
evil inclinations. The Bible says: "Chasten
soul spare for his crying" Childish rage
unchecked will, after awhile, become hurri-
cane. Childish petulance will grow up into
misanthropy. Childish rebellion will develop
into the lawlessness of riot and sedition. II
you would ruin the child, dance to his
every caprice and stuff him with con-
fectionery Before you are aware of it
that boy of ten years will go down
the street, cigar in his mouth and ready on
any corner with his comrades to compare
pugilistic attainments. The parent who al
lows the child to grow up without ever hav-
ing learned the great duty Of obedience and
submission has prepared cup of burning
gall for his own lips and appalling destruc-
tion for his descendant. Remember Eli and
his two sons Hophni and Phinehas
A second error prevalent in the training of
children is the laying out OF theory AMI fol-
lowing it without arranging it to varieties of
disposition. In every family you will find
striking differences of temperament. This
child Is too timid, and that too bold; this
too miserly, and that too wasteful; this too
inactive, and that too boisterous. Now, the
farmer who should plant corn and wheat and
turnips in just the same way, then
put them through one hopper and grind them
in the same mill, would not be so much of a
fool as the parents who should attempt to
discipline and educate all their children in the
same manner. 1t needs skillful hand to ad-
just these checks and balances. The rigidity
OF government which is necessary to hold in
this impetuous nature would utterly crush
that flexible disposition, while the gentle
reproof that would suffice for the latter would
when used on the former, be like attempting to
bold champing Bucephalus with reins of gos-
samer. God gives US in the disposition of each
child hint as to how we ought to train him,
and, as God in the mental structures of our
children indicates what mode of training is
the best, He indicates in their disposition
ther future occupation. Do not write down
that child as dull because it may not be as
brilliant as your other children, or as those
OF your neighbor. Some Of the mightiest
men and women Of the centuries had stupid
childhood. Thomas Aquinas was called at
school "the dumb OK, !" but afterward demon
"the angel of the schools" and ''the eagle of
Brittany" Kindness and patience with a
child will conquer almost anything, and they
are virtues so Christianlike that they are in
spring to look at John Wesleys kiss of
child on the pulpit stairs turned Matthias
Joyce from proaigate into flaming evan
gel.
The third error prevalent in the training
of children is the one-Sided development OF
either the physical, intellectual or moral ma
ture at the expense of the others. Those, for
instance, greatly mistake who, while they are
faithful in the intellectual and moral culture
Of children, forget the physical The bright
eyes half quenched by night study, the
cramped chest that comes from too much
bending over school desks, the weak side result
ing from Submarines Of habit, pale cheeks
and the gaunt bodies Of multitudes Of chill
dred attest that physical development does
not always go along with intellectual and
moral How do you suppose all those treas
ures Of knowledge the child gets, will look
in shattered casket? And how much will you
give for the wealthiest cargo when it is put
into leaky ship? How can that bright,
sharp blade Of a child's attainments be
welded without any handsa What are
brains worth without shoulders to carry
them? What is q child with magnificent
mind but an exhausted body? Better that q
young man of twenty one go forth into the
world without knowing A from q If he have
health Of body and energy to push his way
through the world. than at twenty -one to
enter upon active life, his head stuffed with
Socrates and Hercdotus. and Bacon, and La
Place. but no physical force to sustain him
In the shock of earthly conflicts. From this
infinite blunder of parents how many have
come out in life with a genius that could
have piled Ossa upon Pelion and
mounted upon them to scale the
heavens, and yet have laid down
painting with physical exhaustion be-
| fore mole-hill. They who might have
/ thrilled senates and marshaled armies and
startled the world with the shock of their
scientific batteries, have passed their lives in
| picking up prescriptions for indigestion
| They owned all the thunderbolts Of Jupiter,
| but could not get out of their rocking chair
! to use them. George Washington in early life
was poor speller, and spelled hat h-a-double-t
and ream Of paper he spelled ''rheam," but
he knew enough to spell out theindependeuce
! of this country from foreign oppression. The
/ knowledge Of the schools is important, but
| there are other things quite as important
! Just as great is the wrong done when the
mind is cultivated and the heart neglected.
| The youth Of this day are seldom denied any
| scholarly attainments. Our schools and
semiparies are ever growing in efficiency,
| and the students are conducted through all
language and mathematics. The most
hereditary obtuseness gives way before
| the onslaught of adroit instructors
But there is a development OF
infinite Importance which mathematics and
the dead languages cannot affect. The more
mental power the more capacity for evil un-
less coupled with religious restraint. You
discover what terrible power for evil unsanc'
titled genius possesses when you see Scaliger
with his scathing denunciations assaulting the
best men Of his time and Blount
and Spinoza and Bolingbroke lead.
ing their hosts of followers into
the all-consuming fires Of skepticism and in
fidelity. Whether knowledge is a mighty
| good or an unmitigated evil depends entirely
upon which course it takes. The river roll
ing on between round banks makes all the
valley laugh with golden wheat and rank
| grass, and catching hold the wheel of mill
and factory, whirls it with great industries.
| But breaking away from restraints
| and dashinp over banks in red wrath